Member ShawAngela Posted July 23, 2020 Member Share Posted July 23, 2020 Every day is Sunday 1974 : Cantonese comedy with Adam Cheng, Ha Yu playing a gay man (very funny to see him there) and a lot of stars, but it's just a little comedy with the Cantonese humor, so... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member ShawAngela Posted July 23, 2020 Member Share Posted July 23, 2020 Zhuang Yuan Mei 1982 : the two queens of Huang Mei Operas Ivy Ling Po and Yang Li Hua play in this charming movie full of good sentiments and beautiful songs. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member ShawAngela Posted July 23, 2020 Member Share Posted July 23, 2020 Evergreen mountain 1974 : I bought this movie because of Chen Chen and Tien Yeh, but I was a little bit disappointed. It's a kind of chronicles of the life of some people in the mountain. There are two beautiful songs, but I didn't really figure what happened at the end...Tien Yeh has only a sort role, as well as Liu Ping and Ou Wei. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member ShawAngela Posted July 23, 2020 Member Share Posted July 23, 2020 The stealing love 1972 : a love story that looks a little bit strange since the two heroes Jenny Hu and Alan Tang suddenly disappear form the movie for a long while and we see the stories of other people, and then they reappear. Jenny Hu sometimes looks very stupid in the story, and Alan Tang has only one mini fight at the beginning of the movie... Oh, and Wei Ping Ao plays a womanizer who is Jenny's boss, while Tina Chin Fei plays his wife. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member masterofoneinchpunch Posted July 28, 2020 Member Share Posted July 28, 2020 Punisher: War Zone (2008: Lexi Alexander) A week ago, I had never seen any of the Punisher films before. Now I have two down and one to go and I just bought the Dolph Lundgren one yesterday. While the 2004 film I thought overall was good (noticed that Stan Lee was one of the producers, too bad he did not do a cameo though he had done past cameos, was uncredited for this film that might tell you something), this film is not good. It delves toward incompetent in almost all areas from direction, acting, storyline and costumes. Are there any good performances here? An overly stolid anti-hero. A wanna-be Joker in Jigsaw (seriously check out how many scenes are influenced by the first Batman). His brother is so over-the-top it becomes slightly endearing though his forced pronunciation of every syllable makes you want to see him thrown off a building or at least made mute. Though I love that he will destroy mirrors for his brother. Supporting characters that are so meh that they belong in a 1980s TV series. Films like this make you appreciate other movies like the first Punisher so much more. Can you believe this came out the same year as The Dark Knight and Iron Man? I bought the soundtrack years ago (for some reason when I mentioned this to the manager at FYE he thought it was weird that I bought the soundtrack before watching the film). It is one of the high points for the film. The ending makes up for a little bit as it is fun. The extra gratuitous violence certainly helps. CGI blood is never good though. Oh, and blowing up a parkour villain with a missile while in mid jump was admittedly cool, I will add a half-a-star just for that. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Duel to the Death Posted July 28, 2020 Member Share Posted July 28, 2020 Last night i watched Scanners with my friends. It's a movie i have seen dozens of times over the years. It's famous for the head exploding scene and the battle of the minds at the end. It's a David Cronenberg film about people with powerful telepathy. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member masterofoneinchpunch Posted July 30, 2020 Member Share Posted July 30, 2020 Miller’s Crossing (1990: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen) This is one of the more important films I have not seen at least one of the more embarrassing films I have not seen. I found a list of films I wrote to watch from the 1990s and, of course, this was on it. I have seen about two-thirds of the Coen Brothers films, but I do not know why I took so long to watch this. I generally like-to-love their films and I have a DVD of it. After watching it, I am really wondering what took so long. It is quite good. I love the themes of loyalty, betrayal, and honor among thieves and organized crime around a troubleshooter Tom Reagan (Gabriel Byrne) and his allegiance and breakup with Irish mob-boss Leo (Albert Finney: Have you seen him in Under the Volano yet?). One of the great aspects of being well-respected is that you can time a lie to your own benefit. You just cannot do it after you get caught with one. Byrne plays this well as to you think you know what he is doing and what side he might possibly be on, but you are not quite sure. John Turturo is superlative as Bernie Bernbaum (I believe I learned first of a twist in the film from Roger Ebert so I was not surprised by a few plot points involving him) a person with almost no scruples (Does he show one at the end of the film? You can argue that he does with his own perverted logic. Is he lying about his sister earlier about incest?). So many good scenes from the raid on Joe’s house to Bernbaum’s pleading to the ending. I enjoyed this so much more than I thought I was going to, so I am certainly annoyed with myself for taking so long to get this film. Now what Coen unwatched film will I go to next? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DiP Posted July 31, 2020 Member Share Posted July 31, 2020 The Living Daylights (1987) - 8.5/10 License to Kill (1989) - 8/10 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Koravec Posted August 4, 2020 Member Share Posted August 4, 2020 (edited) First time back to a theater since I think Harley Quinn? Saw a documentary on Gordon Lightfoot at an indie theater. Felt like clapping at the end of performances shown because of how good he sounded. Edit: While enjoyable it doesnt really show too much, especially for anyone who would already know anything about Lightfoot. Also recently watched the 2 part Garth Brooks documentary on Netflix. This is actually quite entertaining and much better put together than the Lightfoot doc. The doc almost has you on the edge of your seat at times such as a movie would lol, Garth seems to be quite the emotional individual. Edited August 6, 2020 by Koravec 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Drunken Monk Posted August 4, 2020 Member Share Posted August 4, 2020 I watched In the Mood for Love for the first time the other day. An exquisite five star movie. Truly beautiful. Definitely one of the best films I’ve seen this year. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member masterofoneinchpunch Posted August 4, 2020 Member Share Posted August 4, 2020 Strait-Jacket (1964: William Castle): I like this Castle film more than I thought I was going to. Joan Crawford really helps. I've been catching up on some of her films as I noticed a Crawford deficiency in my cinematic acumen (hee hee). Yes, I have seen Trog. I had just recently watched Sudden Fear (1952: David Miller) with quite a creepy Jack Palance (Is there another type of Jack Palance?). Her performance here helps. Crawford overacts, but she has the ability to overact and still seem convincing. It's like she is Mommie Dearest with a wig and that wig sure brings it out of her (and yes check out a South Korean horror film named The Wig, unlike the late 1700s film The Whig) like an evil toupee in The Simpsons. Castle would work with her again in I Saw What You Did the following year. The ending was a big reason why I enjoyed this movie. I liked the turnout much more than Castle's Homicidal which I unfortunately could tell a bit too early. This denouement was a good M. Night Shyamalan twist (not a Shaggy Dog one). And the epilogue was analogous to say Dark Water. Homicidal and this are so much influenced by Hitchcock, especially Psycho. You can see it specifically in so many scenes. I forgave it more here because of the ax-wielding goodness that a Hong Kong martial art gang would be proud of. Heads will be separated here. Hays Code be damned. It's interesting seeing a skinny (and very sweaty) George Kennedy. Reminds me of early films with Stacy Keach like The Long Riders when he looks in shape. This has one of the great end production titles I have ever seen (I would love to reuse this in a movie). It is hard to believe they let Castle do this. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Duel to the Death Posted August 4, 2020 Member Share Posted August 4, 2020 I watched a fan edit of the Evil Dead Trilogy that combined all 3 movies into one long 3 hour 50 minute marathon. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DiP Posted August 5, 2020 Member Share Posted August 5, 2020 GoldenEye (1995) - 9/10 Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) - 8/10 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DragonClaws Posted August 6, 2020 Member Share Posted August 6, 2020 On 7/20/2020 at 11:32 AM, masterofoneinchpunch said: The Long Riders (1980: Walter Hill) While I have probably seen too many films about Jesse James, I still enjoyed this one (I feel the 1939 Henry Hing one is a bit underrated). This is quite a good streak of Hill’s from his first film Hard Times to this his fourth film. I still have not seen Southern Comfort which would come after. Cool to read your thoughts on this one, looking forward to your comments on Southern Comfort. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DragonClaws Posted August 6, 2020 Member Share Posted August 6, 2020 On 7/30/2020 at 11:32 AM, masterofoneinchpunch said: Miller’s Crossing (1990: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen) This is one of the more important films I have not seen at least one of the more embarrassing films I have not seen. I found a list of films I wrote to watch from the 1990s and, of course, this was on it. I have seen about two-thirds of the Coen Brothers films, but I do not know why I took so long to watch this. I generally like-to-love their films and I have a DVD of it. After watching it, I am really wondering what took so long. It is quite good. I had this on VHS, and if we are talking about movies we are embrarassed about not seeing. I'd put Walter Hill's 48hrs at the top of my list. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Duel to the Death Posted August 6, 2020 Member Share Posted August 6, 2020 2 hours ago, DragonClaws said: I had this on VHS, and if we are talking about movies we are embrarassed about not seeing. I'd put Walter Hill's 48hrs at the top of my list. The Eddie Murphy Nick Nolte movie? Boy i haven't seen that since the 80's. As a kid i liked it but not as much as Beverly Hills Cop which i also haven't seen in ages. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member masterofoneinchpunch Posted August 6, 2020 Member Share Posted August 6, 2020 5 hours ago, DragonClaws said: Cool to read your thoughts on this one, looking forward to your comments on Southern Comfort. I do own a copy of it. I will put it higher on my queue (or personal films). I have seen a couple of Hill films for the first time recently with Johnny Handsome being the other one. I can find something to like and/or live out of all of Hill's films that I have seen. Am I embarrassed for seeing Red Heat many, many times, of course not. 5 hours ago, DragonClaws said: I had this on VHS, and if we are talking about movies we are embrarassed about not seeing. I'd put Walter Hill's 48hrs at the top of my list. I grew up with 48hrs. I do like that film quite a lot. I know some now will eschew it for some of the language. But still a great buddy cop film. It's been awhile since I've seen the sequel though. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Duel to the Death Posted August 6, 2020 Member Share Posted August 6, 2020 Just got done watching a fan edit of The Hobbit. The Anti Cringe edit. It trims the movies down to 5 hour long episodes and takes out alot of the tacked on stuff like Azog, Radagast, The Necormancer, The love triangle and trimmed down other stuff too. I enjoyed it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member HeavenSword Posted August 7, 2020 Member Share Posted August 7, 2020 Feel weird asking this for some reason lol but has anyone checked out that new film by Beyoncé on Disney Plus , Black Is King? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Drunken Monk Posted August 7, 2020 Member Share Posted August 7, 2020 7 hours ago, HeavenSword said: Feel weird asking this for some reason lol but has anyone checked out that new film by Beyoncé on Disney Plus , Black Is King? I haven't seen it yet but I'm sure, at some point, my wife will watch it. I'll probably join her. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member HeavenSword Posted August 8, 2020 Member Share Posted August 8, 2020 On 8/7/2020 at 6:27 AM, Drunken Monk said: I haven't seen it yet but I'm sure, at some point, my wife will watch it. I'll probably join her. I recommend it. A few of the songs are meh, but some are pretty catchy and man this is a beautifully shot film. It’s Beyonce so of course the quality will be great but the visuals, cinematography and locations are all top notch . Jay Z makes an appearance also. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member AlbertV Posted August 10, 2020 Member Share Posted August 10, 2020 Where do I begin....okay Parts Unknown - a family of professional wrestlers who have lost their jobs due to their crazy nature in the ring make a deal with a demonic entity and go on a wild killing spree! Very gory, bloody, and OTT. All Hail the Popcorn King - a documentary about Joe R. Landsale, one of the greatest underrated authors whose work include the Hap and Leonard series, Bubba Ho-Tep, Lansdale is great! I ended up reading two of his books. He also gets involved first-hand with the adaptations of his works. He's also a martial artist who created his own style, Chen Shuan, a more close-quarter combat form, which he trained James Purefoy for in the Hap and Leonard series. The Car: Road to Revenge - a futuristic reboot of the 1977 horror classic in which a D.A. is murdered by a cyberpunk gang only to have his spirit embued in his black sedan, causing havoc in the streets, picking off members one by one. A cop and the D.A.'s former crush investigate and start a relationship in the process, thus making the Car jealous..yup, like Christine. It's a mad ride of a movie....crazy and OTT at times. Fisherman's Friends - loosely based on the true story of a group of fisherman in a small port town off Cornwall whose acapella album ended up in the Top 10 in 2010. This is the story of how a man who was unknowingly pranked helps the group get a record deal and makes himself a better man in the process. The Shadow of Violence - a gripping Irish film about an ex-boxer working as a mob enforcer who questions his morals when he is asked to kill for the 1st time. To complicate matters, his girlfriend wants to leave to a community where their autistic son can be taken to a special school to help his skills. Really good film and now, I'm starting to like Barry Keoghan. He always plays this type of loose cannon character and he's great in the role of the boxer's buddy/fellow mob enforcer. Paydirt - Luke Goss is a man released from prison who gathers his old crew to find some once stolen drug money so they can retire, all while being hunted down by a retired sheriff played by Val Kilmer in one of his first post-cancer performances. Nice twists and the only thing I was distracted by was Kilmer being dubbed (which I can understand considering he battle throat cancer). The Tax Collector - Despite the marketing this is NOT Shia LaBeouf's movie. He's not the lead. Bobby Soto, who drives the film, is great as a family man who serves as a "tax collector" for an incarcerated crime lord. When said crime lord's nemesis returns from a 10-year exile, all Hell breaks loose. The scenes between Soto and LaBeouf in the van reminded me of that chemistry between Scott Adkins and Louis Mandylor in The Debt Collector films. The third act is wildly disturbing and very bloody. Climate of the Hunter - I'm covering the Florida Film Festival this year and my first selection was this soap opera-like tale of two estranged sisters who are both charmed by a former childhood friend. However, one of the sisters begin to get terrifying visions, making her convinced that the potential new beau may be a vampire. Kind of a slow set up at first and there are nuances you may need to pick up, but overall a decent indie effort. Eddy's World - A nice little 28-minute documentary revolving around Eddy Goldfarb, a 98-year old who revolutionized the toy industry. He had created over 800 toys with his most iconic being one seen all over the world of pop culture: the chattering "teeth". At the Video Store - the endangered species known as...the video store is highlighted in this documentary with a wild musical interlude twist to things. Despite Redbox (which is widely panned and made fun of here) and streaming, there are people out there who still go to video stores. No, not Blockbuster, but rarity stores in the annals of NYC, Brooklyn, Los Angeles, and Portland to name a few. We get to see some of these still running video stores as well as interviews with actors and filmmakers who actually were former video store clerks. I never knew Bill Hader was once a video store clerk...until seeing this. The Stepfather - the classic 1987 one about a psychopath who kills his family, changes his look, and marries a widow with a daughter. He is happy at first until his new stepdaughter begins to suspect he may not be who he says he is. Terry O'Quinn's most iconic role before the iconic TV role in Lost. He would go on to reprise the role in... Stepfather II: Make Room for Daddy - In this 1989 sequel, O'Quinn escapes a mental asylum, changes his identity again and pretends to be a psychiatrist who finds his next target in a divorcee (Meg Foster) who has a son (the late Jonathan Brandis) with whom he instantly bonds with. Playing the best friend of the divorcee who begins to suspect something's up is horror icon Caroline Williams (Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2) and the film is directed by Jeff Burr, who would also direct Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III. Brick Mansions - Why? Why? Why? Oh yeah, it was free on Tubi and I got bored. I'm not dragging Paul Walker down. This is not his fault. The blame goes to the very annoying editing of the action scenes and the finale. This remake of District B13 with the finale actually taken from both B13 and its sequel, the only time the editing was done right was with David Belle's Lino Dupree using his parkour skills. Paul's fights were atrociously edited and don't get me started on the RZA. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member masterofoneinchpunch Posted August 10, 2020 Member Share Posted August 10, 2020 The Punisher (1989: Mark Goldblatt): Well out of the three main Punisher films this is by far the worst. I kind of figured it out well by the opening. By the mid-point I kept thinking this feels like a Cannon film. But the end well I was just hoping it to end. Some of the good: I liked Lady Tanaka's character, but I would have written her so much differently. Louis Gossett Jr. is a solid actor. Needed better lines. Some of the action toward the end was decent. The bad pretty much everything else. Not good direction. Not a good story. Way to kill an ending (some things here you will see repeated in War Zone). Makeup on Dolph was hilariously bad. Dolph can act better than this. It's like he was on Quaaludes. The editing, the shot selection, many of the supporting actors, unnecessary scrotum shot of Dolph (yes I took a still of this), the sound, the soundtrack (this was really bad, like TV show in the 80s bad). Some comparisons of all three films: Most human Punisher: Thomas Jane Most boogieman Punisher: Ray Stevenson Most I have no idea what your acting style is trying to accomplish here: Dolph Lundgren Supporting characters goes in this order: The Punisher (2004) War Zone (2008) The Punisher (1989) -- note this film will be last in almost all categories, I say almost but I still cannot think of one where it is better. Action: War Zone (2008): I love some of the crazy stuff here. The Punisher (2004): Good overall. Sometimes a bit pedestrian in the direction of action, but still love non-CGI stuff (great fight scene with Kevin Nash) The Punisher (1989): so far last with decent end. Direction: The Punisher (2004) War Zone (2008) The Punisher (1989): so far last it is not even close. Soundtrack: War Zone (2008): OK I have the CD soundtrack of this still. The Punisher (2004) The Punisher (1989): so embarrassing. Overall: The Punisher (2004): still my fav. War Zone (2008): has grown on rewatch. The Punisher (1989): I'm not going to rewatch this. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member paimeifist Posted August 10, 2020 Member Share Posted August 10, 2020 On 8/4/2020 at 5:57 PM, Duel to the Death said: I watched a fan edit of the Evil Dead Trilogy that combined all 3 movies into one long 3 hour 50 minute marathon. This sounds awesome, where? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DragonClaws Posted August 11, 2020 Member Share Posted August 11, 2020 22 hours ago, masterofoneinchpunch said: The Punisher (1989: Mark Goldblatt): Well out of the three main Punisher films this is by far the worst. I kind of figured it out well by the opening. By the mid-point I kept thinking this feels like a Cannon film. But the end well I was just hoping it to end. It year's since I watched this one, but I loved it as 15 year old Action Movie fan. Sure I wouldn't rate it so highly, if I was to view it for the first time now. Recall renting it first from Blockbuster. The U.K print was butchered, with both MPAA & BBFC cuts. It was one of those movies friends would quote at school all the time. Wasn't there a Directors Cut released?. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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